Monthly Archives: September 2004

So… it’s been several days since my last update and I have all sorts of fun things to tell. I can’t really think of a great place to start, so lets just start with today and work backwards.

This week at work is basically a clean up week. I’m tying up loose ends and trying to make my current spot easy to pick up for the person after me. I really feel bad for whoever it is. I was only given about a day an a half worth of ‘training’ so I don’t even have all the information that this new person needs. It’s going to be a lot of guess-work as new situations come up. Really it will be a lot the same as what I have done for the last month or so. Just figuring it out.

Part of my plan to leave things better then I found them is to help create a system to deal with all the promotional material that are sent on a daily basis. I’m sure that some of those acts are really killer and should come perform, but there’s no way to really search them. the most advanced system that they have now is an Excel spreadsheet with some color coding. It’s just not cutting it. So these promo items sit in various piles and boxes and rely on the memory of the reviewers to make any sense of them. SOOOOoooo we decided on a good database solution to manage not only the data associated with the submissions, but the media itself. A way to have all this stuff archived in data form so it can be searched, viewed, and sent easily to multiple recipients.

Now if I had my choice I would put everything in a MySQL database with a PHP front end… but unfortunately in an organization the size of Disney they won’t allow end users the rights to an SQL server. I could do it under the radar, but they’d end up shutting it down or taking it over… then we lose all control of tables. Anyway, to make a long story just a little longer… i’m stuck doing this project in MS Access. I’ve not so much as breathed on this program in 5 years or so. So there is a bit of a learning curve to get through, but so far I’m off to a pretty good start. Most of the back end it written, now it’s just a matter of making all the front end bits super user friendly.

Hmm what else might be the least bit interesting? Oh… I’ve been having lunch a lot with folks from Guest Talent. It’s funny that we all see each other now that we are all of doing other things for the summer then we ever did during our busy season. So that’s been kind of fun.

Well I guess thats good enough for now. I’ll talk more when I have more to talk about.

I was reminded today that in a previous post, near the end, I mention two embarassing experiences from that day. Both happened within 5 minutes of each other and showed my true colors of a complete idiot.

The events you are about to read are real. The names of the involved parites have been changed to avoid further embarassment.

Fact: Mr. X is the Vice President of Entertainment Operations
Fact: Mr. Z is the President of the Disneyland Resort

It was mid-day when I felt that usual pang of bordom/hunger that spurs me to walk down the stairs and make the short walk to my local Cast commisary called the Eat Ticket. Most of the route was un-eventful and plain. Things changed just slightly when I got a little closer to the door. I heard footsteps behind me as I stepped up to grab the door handle. And what I’m about to tell you has no explination at all. Normally I would have stepped though the door and as a matter of instinct hold it open for anyone who might be behind me. For some reason on this day I skipped that bit of the routine. I let the door fly closed behind me and listened as it smacked the hand of the person directly to my rear. As I looked back I lost all the air that was left in my lungs when I recognized the person behind me as Mr Z. Yes thats right everyone, I slammed the door on the President of the Resort… Thats my boss’s, boss’s boss.

Hoping to recover from the blunder I think I tried to form the words “I’m sorry” but all that registered in the audible spectrum was “flububububub”.

Okay.. take a breathe and move on..

So now I have my food. I’m standing in front of the cash register where the cashier takes customers from both sides of the register. So as you stand there you are facing the second line that is waiting to pay. I was looking down at the contents of my tray when I could just feel someone looking at me. I looked straight up to see Mr X smiling at me waiting for a friendly exchange. Being taken completely off guard by this I immediatly averted my eyes all the while being watched by Mr X. Why did I do this?!? I have no idea. Why didn’t I just say hello? Damn.

Ok so I look up again, and he is still smiling at me and he said “hey Rustin”. …. and I drew a blank. I couldn’t remember his name.

“hi” I said as I walked to a small table where I sat in a small chair feeling very very small.

so thats my idiot day.

Till next time,
R.

(note: Since this day I have encountered both Mr X and Mr Y with no jitter whatsoeer… I guess I was just having a bad day)

Ok folks, if you’re reading this I hope you can see that I am typing with a smile. As of Today i am an Entertainment Special Event Specialist (the title is kind of strange is basically a producer for real)

Well, it’s about 8:45, the morning of my “followup to interview” appointment with the special events group (thats the title they gave it when they sent me the meeting request). I’m getting a little nervous. I hope it all goes well. I really think it would be a blast to produce the special events that happen around the Resort.

I don’t really have much else to say since thats really the only thing on my brain right now.

If you read yesterday’s entry, you’ll see I took the day off. And I don’t think I’m ever doing that again. I know I’m just a temp here in this department… but I’ve worked out quite an efficient system for making sure things get to where they need to be. I only had about a day of training, so the system is really of my own design. On my return this morning, it was quite obvious that I had not yet told anyone about it.

There were little piles of papers all over my desk, some were duplicates, and some had highlighter on them. I have yet to straighten everything out… I had to do this first priorities you know.

Today was not a happy day for me. Last night when I got home all seemed well. I was just doing my normal thing in the late evening, working on my computer. Suddenly my stomach twitched, then rumbled. I made a mad dash to the chamode where it was obvious my stomach was very angry with me.

I didn’t get a chance to leave the bathroom for several minutes later. It seemed my body was punishing me for my after work run by Carls Jr. Whenever I tried to run away, it sat me back down to say “see what happens?”.

So what I finally did actually get out of there, I sat back down in front of the computer and felt an entirely new kind of rumble. Things were definetly going the wrong direction. So again back into the bathroom to get to know the bowl all up close and personal.

It was terrible. Throughout the night I was working with sweats, chills, fevers (not sure on the temp), heaves, and various noises being emmitted by various orifices.

So that was my night… and most of this morning.

Things got a lot less intense around 2:00 today when I finally had restful, uninterrupted sleep. This however came at a price. Those of you who read this blog often might know that I met with some folks over in Entertainment Special Events last week talking about a chance to join their team. This is something I have wanted to do for some time.

Anyway, While I was asleep I missed a call from Disneyland and there was a voicemail. It was the woman I had met with last week! She said she would be in the office till about 4:00 and it was 3:30. So I called back and here was the news.

“I’ve scheduled a meeting with you for tomorrow, and we have some news that I think will really make you happy. it looks very good.”

So I guess it’s been a while since I actually blogged with something real. Well if you’re reading this, you must be bored to a degree that I never hope to be, so the least I could do is give you something semi interesting to read about.

Lets start with work shall we?
As you probably know, I’m filling a temporary spot in Talent Resources in TDA and so far it’s been a wonderful learning experience. While the actual work that I am doing is less then mentally stimulating, I’ve had a wonderful time meeting all the people in Entertainment up here who before now were simply names on email distribution lists. I now know a basic outline of how the hierarchy works up here. It still a bit of a mystery how a few folks got to be where they are… but that’s another conversation for another day.

So my days are filled with creating files, and doing mini research projects. Sometimes my only job is to play with a BlackBerry handheld to find fun new tricks for my manager. I know that sounds stupid, but it’s probably the most fun job I have. The rest of my hours are basically acting as a glorified paper handler. I don’t even really work with the data that’s on the pages. Let me give you a quick rundown of the most common paper trail to cross my desk.

Talent Request comes to my desk

I put it in a red folder with a blue card

Red folder goes on manager’s desk

Manager writes on the top corner and hands it back to me

I transfer the data from the sheet into a database

I make two photocopies of the sheet, and pass the red folder on to the Booking Agent

I highlight selected information on each of the two copies and file them in a binder

And that’s about it. As you can see, there’s not much thought to it. It’s just a matter of getting the papers to interested parties quickly. Everyone around here waits till the last minute to complete things, and that puts us middle men in a crunch to make up for the lost time. Usually it’s doable, and I doubt they even notice that we’re doing it. But oh well. I guess it comes with the territory.

On par with my usual thing, I have found ways to take on little side projects for the department. I pitched a little idea for some database work that I think is going to take hold. They love the idea, and its just a matter of making sure it is financially feasible. After that I think it may secure me a good amount of work for the coming season. I’ve got my fingers crossed anyway.

I’m sure there is more to tell, but that’s all I can really think of right now. At least that all that’s really on my mind.

An now home life:
Things are really good at home. What I love is I don’t have to spend too much of my day thinking about it. Things just sort of work. Janey and I are a really good team and we help each other out a lot. I will admit that a lot of times we get in each other’s way because we’re trying to be helpful. It’s annoying to no end, but I love it. Isn’t that strange? We drive each other nuts and love it.

OK so that’s a pretty good update. I will talk more later today about my two really embarrassing experiences from yesterday.